


Dreams of a Gerudo King

by Mez10000



Series: The Legend of The Puppet Princess [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Genre: Ganondorf-centric, Gen, Naval Gazing, sympathy for the villain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 21:23:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5106209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mez10000/pseuds/Mez10000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ganondorf has had a lot of time to think about what happened. So many things did not go according to plan...but he can wait, and as he waits, he dreams...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreams of a Gerudo King

I dream. I see so much in my dreams – worlds where I am killed for no crime, worlds where I claw my way through the darkness to find my home in ruins, worlds where I am fought over and over. I have been asleep for so long, and these half-memories keep bubbling to the surface, glimpses of how Hyrule could be, and perhaps one day will be. In every one, I see _her_ ; the pampered Princess too weak to carry out her own plans, and the boy in green she has convinced to follow her orders. I have been asleep for so long now...

I was once a child, it may shock you to learn. Of course, the harsh desert does not suffer children for long, and those of the Gerudo tribe learn to put away childish things earlier than their Hylian counterparts or else never survive being a child, but I, too, once had the naivety and innocence of childhood. Now I am the monster parents warn their children of.

I grew up not knowing where my next meal was coming from. I thought it was normal to hunt the monsters of the desert for what little scrawny flesh they could offer. The tribe crafted all they owned out of necessity. When we tried trading for supplies with Hylians, we were called thieves and murderers. They hated us, for reasons we did not know or understand. 

But I was the son of the entire tribe. I had the support and love of a few dozen mothers, who taught me everything I needed to know about life in this arid world. How to find and gather water; how to build; how to weave cloth; and how to construct and use a whole host of weaponry. I was taught music and the tales of our people. I was taught the ancient magics that had been handed down through our tribe, a jealously guarded secret. I was always pushed to be better, to know more, to improve my skills, but not knowing exactly why I, over my many sisters, was the focus of their efforts.

When I mastered one of our more arcane arts, my mother-teachers Koume and Kotake finally told me. I was to rule the Gerudo tribe one day. It was their hope that if I were successful and showed the strength of my people, that perhaps the Hylians would be able to overcome their differences with us. They theorised that as the Hylian ruler was a man, that they might see a female leader as lesser. Absurd to us, but the Hylians were strange in many ways to us. To this end, I was taught etiquette – how to walk and talk and present myself as both a powerful leader and a humble ambassador for my people. I was taught about the many slights and offences I could accidentally cause in Hylian high society, and the fine art of phrasing requests so that I did not come across as too forceful, nor too weak. I knew my task would be difficult, but I was to appeal to end the exile of my tribe, and in doing so, pledge loyalty to the Hylian king. 

The first time I stepped foot in Hyrule itself, I was struck dumb by its beauty. Lush, verdant fields rolling gently into the distance; water trickling through valleys; tall, proud trees...I felt as though I had stepped onto an alien landscape. How was I to know that grasses could be green and thick, when all I had known were scrubby golden strands? How could I have imagined a forest when even a tree was such a mythical concept? How could I know that water could exist so freely without the oppressive sun to dry it? I felt envy boil inside me.

The Hylians who lived here didn't know how easy their lives were. They couldn't fathom going hungry and thirsty for lack of food or water. They didn't march through treacherous desert simply for the chance to hunt some boney creatures. They farmed. They had springs and wells. They lived in individual little houses designed for just a few people instead of pooling their resources like we did. The land was so rich and able to support them that they could afford to be selfish, prioritising personal or family gain over the good of their people. 

Yet, in such an idylic land of plenty, there were beggars, people deemed unfit for any work, so reduced to begging for acts of charity from others. Such a thing was unspeakable to us – we shared our food and water with the old and infirm, as well as the youngest or the sick. The desert was harsh enough on us, there was no reason that we also had to be harsh to one another. I saw how disgusted Hylians were with these beggars. Any help given was with a pitying sneer. I saw a lot of similarities between my tribe and these beggars. Shunned by other Hylians, and having fallen on hard times, they were doing all they could to feed and clothe themselves, and yet they were looked down upon. This was how Hylians treated their _own_ people, how could I expect them to show kindness to outsiders, when they had already proven their hatred of anything even slightly different to themselves?

My time in Hyrule had taught me one very important thing: I could not be an envoy of peace. I could not pledge on bended knee to serve a king who allowed such things to happen. A truly strong leader would be able to see problems like this and solve them. Hyrule had the resources to aid these people. But the country had turned a blind eye to them, as they had turned away from the Gerudo.

I would not abandon my people for my pride, but I would not be loyal to the Hylian royal family, either. I was left with no other choice but to take Hyrule by force. The Hylians worshiped a trio of goddesses, and the legends said these goddesses left behind an artefact of awesome power; the Triforce. If the legends were to be believed, the artefact had the power to reform the world. Even if they were false, just possessing the Triforce itself would be enough to command the respect of the Hylians. So I sought it...and I succeeded. 

I ousted the king, and his daughter fled. I controlled Hyrule. I had a fragment of the Triforce. But I had made a mistake. I did not realise how loyal the people were to their royal family. They had swallowed the lies of the powerful – that their current prosperity and stability was the result of the royal family, and not the temperate climate and hard work of the poorest in the country. They turned on me, an angry and despondent mob. I knew they were not to blame for the lies they believed, and given enough time, they would come to see that I did the right thing. 

I fortified the castle with magic to deter them, and summoned Redeads - terrifying yet slow - to chase them away. They all escaped with their lives to a nearby town, completely unharmed. They didn't thank me for my mercy, stubbornly clinging to the belief that life was better under their old rulers. 

I worked hard to change the nature of Hyrule, to make it fairer for everyone to live. The native Hylians rejected everything. In the end, they clung to a rumour that their princess would come back and reclaim her throne, rather than accept that I could be working in their best interest. They believed a young woman they had last seen as a child, and who was probably dead by now, would be a better leader than I.

In the end, the princess _did_ return, but she didn't act alone. She did nothing of any consequence for herself, instead bending a young man in green to her will, and instructing him to carry out tasks she either could not, or would not do herself. So typical of the pampered royals, to task everything to someone else, never risking their own necks on their own plans. She delegated all the danger to little more than a boy, and stood to gain everything from it.

My rule ended because of that young man, but I didn't begrudge him, even as he sought to kill me. We were both victims of the Hylians, outsiders, made to fit a role and disposed of if we acted out of turn. My true enemy was the Princess Zelda, beloved by those who simply didn't know of any other way. I clung to my grudge, as I clung to the remnants of my life and the meagre fragment of the Triforce I had been found worthy of. 

I was sealed away, but magic is always fallible. Seals can weaken. Sages can grow old. I had the power of a Goddess on my side, and all the time in the world to unpick the cage I had been bundled into.

I did indeed break the seal upon me. My wrath towards the royal family, and a new generation of pampered fools was quite terrible, and my anger kept me confined to a monsterous form as I attacked. I fought my way through waves of soldiers – how cowardly of the royals to hide behind their own subjects – as they pleaded for help. This time, there was no green-clad child for them to hide behind, and push their own problems upon. This time, I could revenge myself upon the royal family.

Except their selfishness prevented me from even gaining this. They appealed to their goddesses, and their goddesses saw fit to flood the world. The rich, beautiful land of Hyrule was lost to me, under leagues of water. They did not wish for me to have Hyrule, and in this act, stopped anyone from having it. This act killed so many Hylians, and utterly decimated the Gerudo tribe. In one atrocity I lost my home, my people and any chance of regaining anything.

I sank into a sleep, and dreamt. I dream of Hyrule, safe and dry. I dreamt of Hyrule covered in darkness. I dreamt of Hyrule split into light and dark. I envied all those Hyrules, just out of my reach. I dreamt of a desert tribe, safe and prosperous. As I dreamt of all that was lost to me, my anger faded, and a profound melancholy took me. I refused to accept that Hyrule was gone for good. That wonderful land was worth fighting for, and there had to be a way to force the waters to recede.

I recalled the Hylian myth: whomever lays a hand upon the Triforce may have his wish granted. If I could reform the Triforce, I would be able to wish away the ocean, and bring prosperity back to Hyrule. But to do this, I would need the piece carried down the royal family, inherited along with a name. I would need to find the newly reborn Zelda, hidden somewhere in the vast ocean.

I awoke. I had been sleeping for far too long, now. I had to _act_ , and save Hyrule while she could still be saved.

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by Ganondorf's few lines of speech towards the end of Windwaker, and thinking about how the timeline fits together. Then add in a little over-thinking about what his actual motivations could be and this is the result...


End file.
